San Francisco Giants Streaky Infielder Has Completely Turned Season Around

The San Francisco Giants getting elite hitting production from the bottom of their lineup raises their ceiling immensely.

Apr 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco Giants infielder Tyler Fitzgerald (49) hits an RBI double against the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are off to a better start this season than many expected them to be, and a huge part of the reason for that is the offense and the emerging of players who were not expected to be major contributors in the lineup.

There have been numerous cases of guys unlocking short bursts of power and hitting prowess -- Wilmer Flores immediately comes to top of mind -- but a huge reason for the team's incredible 13-5 start has been someone new stepping up every day.

Entering the ongoing series against the Philadelphia Phillies which the Giants will try to earn a three games to one victory in on Thursday afternoon, second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald was putting up numbers at the bottom of the order which were not horrible but far from remarkable as well.

According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Fitzgerald entered the series hitting .237 with an OPS of .582. After these last three games however both have skyrocketed, bringing his slash line to .314/.352/.490 with seven hits in the series including his first home run of the year.

Fitzgerald starting to get hot could raise the ceiling of this lineup -- which is already producing at a level much better than expected over the first few weeks -- to a level where this is not just a playoff group, it's one that could contend in the Nationals League.

Having someone like Fitzgerald as the No. 9 hitter in a spot which is so frequently a black hole for teams can be a massive advantage for San Francisco if he starts hitting at the rate he has seemed capable of.

Last year as a rookie, Fitzgerald was used in 96 games more out of need at shortstop than anything though he performed more than admirably with an impressive slash line of .280/.334/.497 with 15 home runs.

Those numbers profiled out much stronger than the kind of hitter the Giants expected Fitzgerald to be, but if he can put up anything close to those figures with Willy Adames in the lineup and Fitzgerald over at second, San Francisco is going to have a chance to have one of the deeper lineups in baseball.

Though he was not off to a great start coming close to replicating last year, perhaps this series for Fitzgerald can be the turning point in his season and give the Giants a dangerous weapon at the bottom of the order.